Britain faces soaring cost of Brussels pensions

Michel Barnier will not discuss Britain’s transition deal until all budget commitments made before the Brexit vote are honouredFRANCOIS LENOIR/REUTERS

Britain is fighting a £10 billion demand to fund the rising pensions bill for retired Eurocrats after Brexit.

European Union accounts, seen by The Times before their publication tomorrow, reveal that the cost of pensions liabilities for EU officials rose by 5.4 per cent last year to €67.2 billion (£59 billion). The figure has more than doubled in the past decade.

The new accounts show that the total budget liabilities of which Britain is expected to pay its share when leaving the EU have risen by 3.8 per cent, to €234.8 billion last year from €226.1 billion in 2015.

This week Michel Barnier, the EU’s negotiator, said that he would not discuss Britain’s transition deal until all budget commitments made before the Brexit vote, including…